German media report that the supervisory board of Volkswagen is meeting Thursday following a public spat within the carmaker's top leadership.

News agency dpa reported, without citing sources, that the extraordinary meeting was called to discuss the row between board chairman Ferdinand Piech and CEO Martin Winterkorn.

Continue Reading Below

Volkswagen declined to comment on the report.

Piech was quoted Friday by Der Spiegel magazine as saying he was "at a distance from Winterkorn," who has been widely considered a likely successor as supervisory board chief.

Winterkorn has received backing from the head of Volkswagen's influential employee council, while the governor of Lower Saxony state, a minority shareholder, criticized the public discussion about the company's leadership.